Barrel-Aged Abraxas | Perennial Artisan Ales

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Reviews by beerandcycling88:

S Very sweet with lots of chocolate, a bit of vanilla plus a lot of spicy cinnamon.

T Some dark chocolate followed by a lot of cinnamon. Overall the taste of this one was one of contrasts with a lot of sweetness being balanced with some spicy cinnamon. Any barrel aging is destroyed by the rest of the flavors present.

M Full thick body with little carbonation

Overall this is an excellent stout that due to its sweetness would make an amazing desert beer.

More User Reviews:

On tap at the Great Taste. I still remember the taste of this beer which I got about 4 ounces of. I honestly should not be doing this as a review but I have to share my thoughts on this beer right now for my own record-keeping purposes.

This beer poured out of the pitcher a dark brown, nearly black body with a nice 1cm mocha head that dissipated over a few minutes into pretty much nothing, not even a film. It looked very viscous. As I drink it down, you can see cinnamon particles on the sides of the glass plus a decent bit of lacing. That tells me the beer is sticky as hell.

The beer smells like cinnamon toast crunch with chocolate milk. It smells so decadently chocolatey sweet mixed with straight up vanilla and so, so much cinnamon. I tried but could not get any of the spicy peppers in the nose. It's very strong and pungent, I really enjoyed smelling this beer!

The taste is where the money is at. It's pure cinnamon up front tempered by a sweet milk chocolate flavour. Then there's a burst of vanilla throughout, a sweet kind of vanilla that combines with everything to make this beer sort of taste like liquid marshmallows. And that's not all- there is a not-very-subtle peppery spiciness that burns a decent bit on the back end. It is all in all, a delicious beer and a major improvement on the regular Abraxas- which didn't have that marshmallowy flavour to it.

Mouthfeel is great- very full bodied, creamy and viscous beer with a spicy peppery kick on the back-end. I was so happy with my four ounce pour, I would absolutely accept more but this beer was just so thick, decadent and rich that I was satisfied after 4 ounces. No booziness at all in this beer, and everything was so well integrated.

Overall, absolutely worth the hype. The regular Abraxas is awesome but this took it to a whole other level. That marshmallowy chewiness on top of the cinnamon, peppers and chocolate was just something else entirely. It's not Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Bean Dark Lord but it's not very far off from that either.

Re-review: Batch 2 black wax bottle poured into a FFF/DMC snifter 6/21/2014. Same appearance and mouthfeel as described above. The nose and palate seem to be rather focused around the bourbon barrel-aging and cinnamon sticks. There is some chocolate fudge from the malts, but it tastes like bourbon soaked cinnamon sticks. Which is certainly excellent. Still, I am missing some of the complexities of the base Abraxas beer, especially in comparison to Double Barrel Hunahpu's which we drank just before opening this one. This is certainly an excellent choice if you enjoy cinnamon spices and barrel-aged stouts, but it may very well not be worth the price of admission. As usual, I won't be changing the score based on the initial review, but this would be something more like a 4.55 if I did.. then again, I'm comparing this to a top 5 beer in Double Barrel Huna, so it doesn't reflect particularly poorly on this excellent stout.

Re-re-review: Batch 3, released February 2016. Served out of the bottle, into a brandy snifter glass. Same dark black body, oily, a bit of leg. Smells of cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, milk chocolate, plenty of whiskey, dark chocolate fudge much like the blue label Maman they had on tap at the same venue. Flavour is cinnamon toast crunch with vanilla and milk chocolate, fair bit of whiskey but nothing boozy or overwhelming. So much flavour to this beer, very similar to Batch 1 (read above) than it is to Batch 2 (also read above). The ingredients add onto the excellent BA base beer that is Maman and they all play together very well. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick and creamy, like a cinnamon toast crunch marshmallow milkshake. A bit of prickly peppery heat, perhaps a little bit of whiskey, hard to tell, cuts the sweetness on the backend. Really drinkable, very savory and wonderful. At this point, Batch 3 = Batch 1 > Batch 2. That's the way I see it from memory. One of the best tasting, most memorable and flavourful stouts I've ever had.

Re-re-re-review: 2013, 2014 and 2016 barrel-aged Abraxas out of the bottle. Served in stemmed glassware 4/30/2016. Essentially, while 2013 was still tasting very good, it is a shadow of its former self. The 2016 has clearly supplanted 2013 at this point, bringing what was so great about it fresh- marshmallow cinnamon toast crunch. The bourbon presence and mouthfeel is just perfect on this beer, with a full substantial body. 2014 is somewhere in between; it never had the big cinnamon toast crunch presence that 2013 and 2016 boasted when fresh. So in summary, 2016 is drinking fantastic, but my recommendation is to not let it sit more than a year or two.

Nice bouquet of dark fruits. Rich and robust front palate with raisin and a firm dusting of cinnamon from mid to back. The ancho was probably perfect for my taste, adding just a little "grip" to the overall drink. Not as dense as other BA stouts I have had, but great finesse.

Interestingly, this beer engaged the salivary glands like no other beer I have had. A terrible way to term it...but I can't think of a better...was juicy. While being a decadent and smooth stout, it was so sessionable and had me wanting to take sip after sip. Stellar beer.

T: Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate, mild chili and cinnamon spice, alcoholic heat from the barrel, and a touch of vanilla.

F: Thick, heavy, and full. One of the best I have ever had.

O: This is an immaculately well balanced beer with a delightful combination of flavors and an exceptional mouthfeel. Certainly one of the top stouts on the market and in the conversation for best in its class.

BA Abraxas vs. Abraxas:

The barrel-aged version of Abraxas brings about a deeper layer of complexity to an already sensational base beer and enhances the mouthfeel to near perfection. It is a world class stout that is executed virtually flawlessly. It is, however, one of the most difficult beers to acquire, whether by lottery or by trade, and the value of a single bottle -to me- is too high a price to pay for what other beers could be enjoyed in its stead.

The regular Abraxas is far more approachable and easier to acquire, and carries with it a more pronounced cinnamon spice and roasted malt flavor profile, which is quite inviting. It is a delightful beer that beats out nearly everything else in its category, and minus the mouthfeel, rivals everything its barrel-aged brother offers in a beer. For future visits, regular Abraxas will satisfy my palate quite suitably without the need for barrel-aging.

A perfect way to describe this is a cinnamon infused, super fresh dark fudge brownie. Awesome deep fudge notes along with a nice cinnamon hint. Not a cinnamon bomb like others in this style have been. Barrel comes through exactly like it should with subtle whisky notes. Everything compliments each other well.

I don't know what else I can say about this beer that already hasn't been said. It's all the flavors of regular Abraxas pulled together and mellowed out perfectly by the barrel aging process. One of the richest, thickest, most flavorful beers I've ever had. The rye whiskey notes balance perfectly with the aroma and taste of the chili, chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla. Undoubtedly the best stouts I've ever had the pleasure of tasting, and the 2016 is just as good or better than the 2014. I count myself fortunate to have had both a taste on draft and taken home a bottle today. Epic brew. Hall of fame worthy.

From a split bottle at sp cellar. On the heels on derivation 2, so there's that.

Nose is complex: spicy dark intrigue
Taste is still dominated by the cinnamon, but less so than regular abraxas. A pretty good balance of really big flavors. I remember there being more bourbon, but still very good stuff
Mouthfeel is thick--probably on par with bourbon county
Mayans would kill for this. Perennially!

Holy cow! In a night worthy of any share I've ever been a part of, which included DBH, Westly, Hommage, DBJ, Remy Pappy, Pappy Cake and more, this was the clear winner! It wasn't even close and we drank some amazing beer tonight. Cinnamon Toast Crunch mixed with an amazingly smooth bourbon barrel stout, with some slight pepper heat added in for good measure. One of the best beers I've ever had hands down and I previously rated DBH a 5 (the only 5 I've ever given). I stood by that 5 tonight until I had the BA Abraxas. If DBH is a 5 (which I still think it is) BA Abraxas is a 7. Do whatever you need to do to experience this masterpiece.

pours black with thin brown head. Smells of heavy cinnamon and roast. Smooth taste with chocolate and more cinnamon, minimal heat. Mouth feel is on the thinner side.
Really good beer but not on the same level has Double Hunahpu and not worth what it took to trade for it. I think I might actually prefer the regular version better.

Abraxas is a great beer -- no question about it. The real question here is whether the BA version is worth the trouble. The regular is so big it already drinks a bit like a BA version, so you would be forgiven if you found this barrel treatment a bit "subtle." There's some wood added to the complex array of cinammon, chilies, chocolate, etc. already going on, but not too, too much. Still, a nice addition to an already world class beer. You're looking at a 10 percent bump in goodness over the original. That's excellent, but not transcendent. You decide whether it's worth it.

Smells of cinnamon and chocolate fudge, with the barrel taking the back seat. Taste follows the smell, still not much from the barrel which is quite a letdown. Mouthfeel is creamy and full-bodied.

Overall, this is a great stout, but the lack of barrel presence in this beer makes it taste more like a year old regular abraxas (which I've had). Not worth the price of admission. Had Proprietors right after, and it was a much better example of a BA stout!

This beer was great but I have to admit, I was slightly let down. It's one of those insanely hyped beers and I suppose it can only let you down. That said, I adore regular Abraxas but the BA version sort of brings out the spice only for me. I wanted more of that beautiful chocolate that regular has. Needless to say it was delicious on draft but would much prefer to try a bottle...then again, swing by the FT:ISO thread and you will realize, so is everyone else in the world.

among the very best beers by ranking because now i am quite convinced that it is one of the very best beers! it is absolutely incredible, huge thanks to my homie in saint louis for sharing this one with me, its one of those beers that due to limited production and insane hype, i thought i might never get to try! so glad i did. i was keen on the base beer, but these barrels take it to the next level. fudge brownie or cake batter comes to mind right away, the cocoa and the vanilla together really make it rich and desserty, but synergies abound in this one. the vanilla notes in the whiskey and the actual vanilla, the subtle rye harshness and the spice of the ancho pepper. the smoked element in the pepper and the earthy bitter cacao nibs, the barrel char and the black malts, and the chocolate and the cinnamon together is also an extremely unique interaction! so much going on here, all fudgey and gooey and dense. the booze is little more than warming, the oak envelopes the whole thing, and i feel cozied, snuggled by this beast. cinnamon and soft smoke linger with a charred character in the end, subtle maple and molasses notes, dark ra chocolate, and smooth mellow wood. its all so good, takes an absurdly well done base beer to the next level. i am not often one to clamour for barrels or freak out about them, but this really is a transformation and a maturation unlike any other. an absolute delight, i hope to encounter this one again!!! hands down the king of the adjunct stouts...

Poured completely black with minimal amount of caramel colored foam which only stuck around the edge of glass. I don't know if it was that I already had some high quality barrel aged beers before it or if it was Marshmallow Handjee just prior, but the smell was predominantly cinnamon and cinnamon alone. As the beer warmed, yes got a bit of cacao and chocolate, but the barrel was extremely faint and I got no semblance of coffee. Very similar flavor to the smell. It was predominantly cinnamon with only faint traces of other ingredients, even after letting it warm all the way to room temperature. The feel was good. On thicker side and sticky.

In the tasting it finished as a 3rd out of 4 for three of us (myself included) behind Handjee '17 and BADL '16, and 4th for the fourth person. I don't know if was the quality of the other stouts or the order in which we drank them (could have been), but the expectations were quite high and they weren't met. I, most of all had the high expectations of it being every bit as good as Handjee '17 and perhaps even better, but the beer seemed relatively one dimensional with the cinnamon dominating. The lack of barrel presence, especially compared to the three DL variants was obvious. Just didn't seem like BA Abraxas was all that much 'more' than a regular Abraxas.

This is a high quality stout, but not quite the world class for which it trades for in my opinion or what I was expecting.

There are no adequate words to describe the awesomeness of this amazing beer. I truly believe it is only a matter of time before BA Abraxas finds itself rightfully at the very top of the BA Top 250 list. And once it gets to the top, like Hulk Hogan in the mid/late 80's, expect it to stay there.

I don't usually say much when rating a beer but this beer was amazing. Good base beer and the barrel brings it to a whole new level. If you like thick chewy BA stouts , get it! this one is well worth the price of admission

2017 version. I have to admit was underwhelmed with this beer. To me it was completely dominated by cinnamon with some barrel presence. I had one sip and was like tasted like cinnamon toast crunch soaked in whiskey. Not that is a bad thing. Still a great beer and maybe it needs more time to integrate other flavors. It was solid, but I thought it fell a tad short of a world class stout. I actually enjoyed the rich, rye fudginess of Maman 16 over this guy.

There are many great BA stouts out there, but I would say this might top the list. Nothing overpowers itself, the bourbon, cinnamon, and chilies all work in perfect combination. Great cinnamon up front, with a smooth well hidden abv on the back end. Amazing!